Safely removed from my college experience and the UB campus, I can make this confession: I never went to World Civilizations II.
I left early on the first day of class, and didn't show back up again except to take the midterm and the final exam. With an attitude common to most university students, I knew two things - one, that I could pass the class without attending, and more importantly I knew that I wasn't planning on becoming a history professor, so missed lessons didn't matter.
Perhaps I should be proud that I got an A in a class I never attended - a feather in my collegiate cap. But while the A on my transcript probably did help me get where I wanted to go, the knowledge I missed out on was just as valuable.
This week as you peruse the undergraduate catalogue for next semester's schedule, remember this simple, even trite, lesson: college is not just about a good transcript and workplace skills. It's all about the knowledge.
Out here in the real world, I can't say that I've applied too many of the facts I learned in college; I'm not speaking French or analyzing rocks or coding Web sites. But that doesn't mean that classes I took in French or geology or web design were useless. They sharpened my thinking skills, expanded my mental horizons and prepared me to tackle unfamiliar challenges.
This may seem like a self-righteous pep talk, but being in the real world gives one a certain perspective on the value of college learning. Working 9 to 5 simply doesn't leave time to pick up Shakespeare or learn another language.
For rigidly practical and focused students who have selected a vocation and are taking classes to that end, don't ignore all the other courses. For one, just as a matter of practicality, employers or graduate school admission officers like to see breadth of learning on a transcript.
Beyond that, such wide coursework leaves you with a versatile mind able to take on the demands of the real world. Whatever path you envision now, rest assured you won't follow it exactly. And you need to be prepared to tackle whatever will come your way.
Here's a case study that might help prove the point: there are generally two types of journalists I have encountered in the professional world. There are those who studied journalism as an undergraduate and sometimes as a graduate too - people who focused on the nuts and bolts of journalism at the expense of their other coursework. Then there are those who took a wide variety of different classes, from math to history to political science, and learned whatever journalism technique they could along the way.
Of the two groups, the best journalists by far are actually the ones who didn't sweat the journalism classes. Sure those who did have technique down, and can conduct great interviews and write precise leads. But they lack the valuable context they would have learned in general education classes. They learned how to communicate, but in the end, have nothing to communicate.
Take a look at the best and worst journalists out there today - when our president tells us it's really in our best interest to spend American blood and dollars in the Middle East to export democracy, the former studious journalism students studiously and with great journalistic precision repeat what he has said.
But the ones who paid attention back in World Civilization know about the past follies of imperialism and know what happens when hubristic superpowers decide to run the world. Those are the ones who question the government a little harder, who know what their role is in a democracy and vigorously speak truth to power.
That's the value of a broad college education - no matter where you go in life, you need a strong mind and knowledge of the world you live in. Remember that when you're tempted to skip the rest of those dumb general education classes - you won't regret it.
